


Strawberry

by Richonnesmints



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 05:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10870146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Richonnesmints/pseuds/Richonnesmints
Summary: Michonne wants to take a bath but she's still in too much pain to give herself one, so Rick helps her. (set after the events of 7x16)





	Strawberry

**Author's Note:**

> this is for the anon who requested this, i hope you all like this and thank you so much for reading!

Michonne opened her eyes and looked around. She saw that the sun was out through the window and then looked over to see if Rick was in bed beside her. She frowned when she saw that he wasn’t there, but she also knew he couldn’t have been far. He hadn’t been more than twenty feet away from her since she had came home from the infirmary.

He stayed by her side and made sure she was comfortable and didn’t need anything. He had brought her food in bed whenever she felt like eating and brought her everything she needed. Michonne was glad he was there because there was no way she could have moved around the house. But then again, Rick would have never let her walk around anyway. He wouldn’t even let her move around in bed without helping her. He basically carried her to the bathroom when she needed to go. She was so thankful for him and everything he had done for her.

She heard the door open and she turned her head and Rick stood in the doorway.

“Hey, you’re up,” he said as he walked closer to her. He bent down and kissed her forehead. “How are you feeling?”

She gave him a small smile. “I’m doing better.” 

She had been in resting in bed for quite a few days. With each passing day, she felt herself getting a little better but she was still really sore.

“I’m glad. Do you need anything?”

“I need a shower,” Michonne told him. She knew she would feel a lot better after a shower. “Except I might just have to take a bath. I don’t know if I’m strong enough for a shower yet.”

“Let me go run your water,” Rick offered. “How would you like your water? Warm? Hot?”

“Hot,” Michonne answered.

“I’ll be back to get you in a second,” Rick told her. He quietly walked to the bathroom so he wouldn’t wake up Judith and Carl. He turned the faucet for the hot water and let it warm up before he put the stopper down to trap the water. He grabbed the strawberry scented bath soap and poured some in the water. He started to smile when he began to think about the run he found it on.

It had been a few weeks before. Rick always tried to bring her back something, even if it was something small. He had been on a run with Aaron and he found it in the back of a car and Aaron had caught him smiling like an idiot thinking about how much Michonne would love it.

And she did. When they got home, he went straight to their house and told her he had found her something.

“Did you finally get that toothpaste?” She had asked jokingly.

Rick just smiled and shook his head. “No, but I got something else that you’d like.”

She stood there wondering what it could have been and when he pulled the bath soap out of his bag, she began to smile.

“I can definitely use this,” she had told him before she gave him a hug and a kiss.

Rick was pulled away from his thoughts when he realized that the tub was almost filled with too much water. He turned the faucet to the left to turn it off.

He opened the door to go get Michonne and he was surprised to find her walking down the hallway while holding onto the wall. Rick quickly made his way to her.

“You need to take it easy,” he told her as he wrapped an arm around her to support her.

She placed a hand on her stomach and let out a big breath. Her ribs were still giving her quite a bit of trouble. She looked at Rick and it was obvious that he was worried about her.

“I’m okay,” she told him. “I’m getting better.”

“Do you need me to pick you up?” Rick asked her.

Michonne shook her head. “No, I can do this. I need to.”

Rick nodded and he stayed beside of her the whole way to the bathroom to make sure she was okay. Once they were inside the bathroom, Rick shut the door and he directed his attention to Michonne looking at herself in the mirror.

Her whole face was covered in dark bruises and her cheek had a nasty scab on it. Michonne had a black eye, but she was so glad that it wasn’t swelled shut anymore. She let out a breath and continued to look at her face.

“I don’t look so good,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Hey,” Rick whispered. He grabbed her hand and she turned around to face him. “It’s only temporary,” he told her. He moved in closer and trailed kisses down the bruised side of her cheek, finishing with a kiss on her lips.

“It’s only temporary,” he repeated again. “After it heals, you’ll look as great as ever.”

Michonne smiled at his comment. She glanced down at his lips and Rick knew it was his cue to move his head closer to hers. They kissed for a few seconds before she pulled away.

Michonne moved her hands down to the end of her shirt and began to pull it up, but she couldn’t. It hurt too much. Moving the upper half of her body was a struggle because of her stomach and ribs. 

She began to breathe heavily because of the pain. 

“Let me help you,” Rick told her. He grabbed the end of her shirt and began to raise it. “I’ll try to be as quick as I can so I don’t hurt you, okay?”

Michonne nodded. She winced a bit when she had to raise her arms up so he could get the shirt off. Once he got it off, he threw it to the floor and looked at her stomach. There were bruises in the shades of blue and purple on every inch of it. 

“Jesus,” Rick whispered. He didn’t really mean to say it out loud but it just came out. He couldn’t even imagine how many kicks and punches she received from the other woman. It hurt him just looking at it; he knew she was in a lot of pain.

He walked around her to unhook her bra but before he did, he kissed the back of her neck. The bra slid down her arms and she let it fall to the floor. Rick moved so he was facing her again. He unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans before he slid them and her panties down at the same time. He got on his knees so she would have something to hold onto as she stepped out of them.

She made her way over to the bathtub and Rick was right behind her so he could help her step in. She held onto both of his arms as she raised her legs to get in. She slowly sat down and winced. The pain was hitting her all over.

Once she was settled, she rested her head against the back of the tub and breathed a sigh of relief. The water felt so good. Michonne began to smile when she realized the scent of the bath soap.

“Strawberry,” she said with a smile. “My favorite.”

“I know.” Rick smiled. 

She closed her eyes and sighed. “I think I’m just gonna sit here for a minute and relax… if that’s okay with you.”

“Take as much time as you need,” he told her. He picked up her dirty clothes and threw them in the corner.

 He sat down beside the tub and rested his arm and chin on the side. 

Rick just watched her while she relaxed. His thoughts went spiraling through his head as he eyed the huge scab on her cheek. If Rick could, he would switch places with her… he would take every bruise and every bit of pain she felt. He wouldn’t have cared… as long as she wouldn’t be in any pain. He never wanted to see her all bruised, bloody, and in pain again for as long as he lived. 

“Rick,” he heard her say.

He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. “Yeah?” He asked.

“I know that look. I’ve seen it too many times. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Rick lied.

She gave him the “I know you’re lying look”. She knew it wasn’t nothing. “It’s something,” she said. 

He knew better than to lie to her; she always knew when he was lying or when there was something wrong. She knew every damn time.

“I don’t like seeing you like this,” he admitted. “It hurts me to see you in pain like this.”

Michonne gave him a small smile. “Like you said, it’s only temporary. This won’t last forever. I’m getting better each day. I’ll be okay.”

Rick nodded, listening to what she was saying. He knew she was going to be okay, but that didn’t stop him from hating the fact that he didn’t get to her in time. If he had, she wouldn’t be hurt as bad as she was.

“I should’ve gotten to you sooner. I’m sorry,” he whispered as he looked down at the floor. 

“Hey,” she said, trying to get him to look at her. She raised her hand out of the water and placed it on top of his. He finally looked up at her. 

Michonne looked into his blue eyes and all she could see was pain and sadness. She didn’t blame him at all and she didn’t want him feeling like it was his fault. 

“You can’t blame yourself,” she told him. “It’s not your fault.”

“I trusted Jadis… I trusted them all.” 

That was exactly why Rick had a hard time trusting people. It seemed like every time he did, someone got hurt or killed in the process.

“We all did,” Michonne said sadly. She wasn’t sure why she trusted them all in the first place, but she was sure it was because they were basically desperate for help against their fight with Negan. Everything that had happened made her remember the simple fact that they couldn’t trust everyone. They all had definitely learned their lesson.

“But I…” Rick began but Michonne interrupted him.

“No buts… We had no way of knowing about them. I don’t ever want you blaming yourself for this,” she told him. 

She grabbed his hand and moved it closer to her face. She kissed the top of it.

“Please don’t.” She was begging him not to blame himself because he did it far too much and she hated it when he did. She had told him countless times that everything wasn’t his fault. Michonne just hoped he would actually realize it.

Rick stared at her for a few seconds before he let out a big sigh. He realized she was right. There was no way they could have known. “Okay. I won’t.”

Michonne sat up and grabbed the shampoo. She opened it and poured some on her hand before she raised her arms. A sharp pain shot through her stomach and she let out a breath.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do this,” she told him truthfully. She was hurting too much. “Will you help me?”

“Of course,” he told her. He grabbed the bottle of shampoo and opened the lid. He squeezed until a bit of shampoo sat in his hand. He gently massaged all over and began to smile when she closed her eyes.

“This feels nice,” she told him with a smile. 

He just smiled back.

After he was finished, he grabbed a plastic cup sitting on the edge of tub and began to wash the soap off her head. He helped hold her head back with one hand so none of the soap would get into her eyes. It took him several minutes to get all the soap washed out of her hair.

He stood up to grab a washcloth so he could wash her. He knelt down again and squeezed some more soap on it before he started. He began at her neck and she sat up a little so he could get her back. Rick got her arms and then he went to her breasts. His thumb grazed over her left nipple and he felt it instantly perk up. He moved his head closer to her chest and placed kisses along both of her breasts. Michonne closed her eyes and let out a few breaths, the last one turning into a soft moan. He trailed kisses up her body and kissed her lips.

He decided he should stop teasing her because they both knew where it was headed and Rick knew sex was probably the last thing her sore body needed. He let out a frustrated sigh before he continued to wash her body.

When he was finished washing her, he pulled the stopper to let the water out and helped her stand up. He washed the rest of the soap off her before he grabbed two towels, one for her hair and one to dry her body. He wrapped her dreads up in the towel before he dried her off.

“Thank you,” Michonne told him when he knelt down on the floor to dry her legs. Words could never explain how much he meant to her.

Rick looked up at her and shrugged. “It’s nothing. I know you’d do the same for me.”

Michonne smiled. He was exactly right. “I would.” 

Rick looked around and realized that he hadn’t grabbed any clothes for her. “I got to get you some clothes,” he told her before he left the bathroom. 

He went to their bedroom and searched through the drawers. He grabbed a pair of panties, bra, black pajama pants, and his dark brown shirt. She had worn one of his shirts before so he figured she wouldn’t mind. And he was also sure she would be more comfortable wearing a bigger shirt.

Rick hurried back to the bathroom and helped her put it all on. She began to smile when she saw that he held one of his shirts in his hand.

He looked down at the shirt. “I hope you don’t mind. I thought you’d be more comfortable.”

“I don’t mind at all,” she said before he helped her put it on. She loved wearing his shirts. They smelled just like him and she could never get enough of his scent. 

Michonne walked over to the door and opened it. Before she could walk down the hallway, Rick picked her up and carried her. 

“Rick,” Michonne whispered. “I could’ve walked.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ve just gotten used to this… carrying you around.”

Michonne smiled at him and moved to kiss his cheek.

They made it to their room and Rick gently put her down on the bed. 

“Do you want some breakfast now?” He asked her.

Michonne shook her head. “I can wait.”

Rick stood there and Michonne patted the bed. “Come sit with me.”

“Are you sure you don’t want something to eat?” Rick asked.

“I’m sure. I can wait. You can cook something after Carl and Judith wake up, but for now, I want you to sit with me.”

Rick smiled a little as he sat down on the bed beside her, but then he decided to lay down. She moved her hand and rested on his head. She began to play with his hair a little, brushing it back with her fingers. The more she did it, the sleepier he was getting. He had hardly slept over the past few days while he took care of her so she knew he definitely needed some rest.

Within a few minutes, he fell asleep. Michonne just stared down at him with a big smile.


End file.
